Disclaimer: I don't own the power rangers. Sadly.
*Italic Indicates thought
Chapter Two: Meeting in Battle
A/N: Hello my readers! So, I've changed the quite in this story, because I feel like this new one fits it better. Anywho, read on!
"Chaos is an angel who fell in love with a demon." -Christopher Poindexter
Mike sipped his water bottle as he watched Jayden and Antonio sparred. "Why is it so hot out here?"
Kevin shrugged. "Maybe because it's May."
"Doesn't mean the sun needs to bake us alive."
The blue ranger smirked and took another swing of water. Because of the heat, Ji had the rangers training on rotations. No more than a half hour of sparring, while the other two groups sat in the shade. The gap sensors went off and the four resting rangers jumped to their feet. Jayden and Antonio stopped and turned as Ji came out. "Nighlock attack downtown. The street market."
"Let's go!" Jayden said, leading the rangers out. He knew they had to move fast; the market would be full of civilians.
"There are a lot of people there!" Antonio yelled, unknowingly voicing Jayden's thoughts.
"I know!" Jayden responded. "Let's morph now!"
"SAMURAIZERS! GO, GO, SAMURAI!"
"SAMURAI MORPHER, GOLD POWER!"
They morphed as they ran, their suits automatically giving them a little bit of protection from the heat. They arrived at the battle and saw people running everywhere trying to get away. "Split up!"
"Right!" the others chorused they split. Jayden ran along one row of stalls. He destroyed a couple of moogers and moved the fallen pieces of the stall. "Run away from here!" he advised to the freed people. He made his way down the row, destroying moogers and helping people out of wreckage. He was pulling a small boy out from under some beams when he heard a loud screech. He looked at the boy. "Run away as fast as you can, ok? Go find an adult."
"Ok Mr. Red Ranger," the little boy said. He turned and ran away from the market. Jayden stood up and heard the same scream again. He ran as fast as he could, following the sound. Het turned his head when he heard it again and saw moogers grabbing a teenage girl. They held her arms and were obviously trying to subdue her.
The girl struggled and pulled in their grip. She saw Jayden and looked directly at him. "Help me! Please!"
"Hang on!" Jayden jumped over the front counter of the booth and out the back of it to her. He repeated the process and slashed at the moogers. They attacked Jayden, leaving a couple, to hod the girl. Jayden ducked and blocked their blows. He destroyed them and saw the others pulling the girl away.
"Help!"
"Let her go!" Jayden yelled. He dodged the next attack and ran straight for the girl. He grabbed her arms and pulled her away. The moogers let go in surprise and Jayden's strength pulled them both to the ground. The momentum caused them to roll under a booth and Jayden dropped his sword and de-morphed in shock. He found himself hovering above the girl in the cramped space. Her ice blue eyes locked with his. Jayden regained his senses and rolled off her. "Stay here," he told her. He grabbed his spinsword and went back out at the moogers.
He slashed at them, blocking all their blows. Within ten minutes he had destroyed them all. He looked around to see if there were more, but the part of the market he was in looked abandoned. He picked up the fabric covering the front of the booth and knelt down. He frowned when he didn't see the girl. Letting the fabric fall back, he sat up and jumped when he saw her staring at him from the other side of the counter. "You scared me." The girl stared at him with a mix of fascination and fear. "Are you ok?"
"You're the red ranger," she said quietly.
"Right, you saw that. Listen, please, you can't tell anyone. No one, understand?"
She nodded. "I won't tell. Promise. Your secret's safe with me."
Jayden smiled. "Thank you." They stood up and stared at each other. "You never answered my question from before. Are you ok?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah. A couple of scrapes and bruises, but I'll live."
"Great. I mean...yeah...I'm glad."
"What's your name? If you don't mind me asking. You did save my life and I'd like to thank you properly."
"You don't have to thank me. It's all in the job description."
"Please?"
Jayden gazed at her pleading expression and felt his resolve melt. "It's Jayden. My name is Jayden Shiba."
"Well, thank you Jayden Shiba for saving my life. Those...monsters would've gotten me if you hadn't showed up."
"Think nothing of it. It's part of the power ranger thing."
She smiled and Jayden had a random thought that she didn't look entirely horrible when she did that. "I'm Kate-Lynn by the way. Kate-Lynn Hale."
"That's a nice name."
"Thank you."
Jayden tapped his fingers nervously against his leg. "Well, Kate-Lynn-"
"You can call me Katie if you want."
"Katie. I should probably accompany you home. In case the monsters come back." He felt anxious feelings over why the moogers had been trying to drag her away rather than scaring her.
"Thanks. I'd feel safe with you around."
Jayden held out his hand and helped her climb over the counter. She hopped down and he let go quickly. "Um...lead the way."
"This way."
Jayden followed her from the market, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. He suddenly found it was very awkward walking with this girl he barely knew. "Um...what were you doing at the market today?"
"Drawing portraits for people."
"Are you an artist?"
"Kind of. I dropped my pencils and sketch book sometime in the struggle."
"Do you have any idea why the moo-ah...monsters would grab you like that?"
"None. It was all happening really fast. One minute everything is perfectly normal, next thing I know there are monsters everywhere. And there was this other one too, he was different."
"Different how?"
"I don't know. I just...got this feeling he was...more powerful. It seemed he was in charge of those other ones. He saw me and pointed at me and said, 'That's her! Get her' and that's when all hell kind of broke lose."
"And you have absolutely no idea why they would do this?"
"No. None."
Jayden frowned. What could the nighlocks want with her? He glanced over her again and she looked like a perfectly normal girl. Her auburn hair was in a loose braid, with a few stray strands hanging out. Her facial features were soft and almost rounded. She wore paint stained overalls over a red shirt and really best-up converse. He could see places where they had been sparkly silver, but it was peeling off. Her hands and face were smudged with dirt and charcoal. She looks like an ordinary person.
Jayden followed her down a street and down an alley. The turned a corner at the end and found themselves in a place where three buildings met, forming the three sides of a square. Jayden saw a sleeping bag spread out over some low wooden crates; a metal tin and the remains of a small fire in it; and a plastic tarp was folded neatly off to the side. "What is this place?"
"I live here."
"You...you do? What about your family? Friends?"
"I don't have any friends, and my family...I'm on my own."
"Oh." Jayden shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Well, um...is there any place else for you to go?"
"No, not really. This city's shelter is full, and I don't have any way to travel."
"Ah I see."
"It's ok though. That's why I draw portraits at the market. For money for food."
"You don't have a job?"
"I'm trying. It's hard to get a job with no address or phone."
"Oh. Well..." The red ranger didn't know what to say. "Do you have a piece of paper and a pencil or something?"
"Of course." She rummaged around in a pile of cardboard boxes and pulled out a really beat up duffel bag. She pulled a notebook out of it and grabbed a pen out of a side pocket. "Here."
"Thanks." Jayden wrote down a number and an address. "Here, if you can think of any reasons why those monsters would want to hurt you."
"Thanks."
"Bye."
"Good-bye Jayden. And thank you again."
"It's no problem. Really." Jayden turned and walked away with a sick feeling his stomach. Katie seemed like such a nice girl and yet she lived in an alley, sleeping on crates and keeping warm with a small fire. Plus the nighlocks were apparently after her. "What could they want?" he wondered as he returned to the market to meet up with the others. He felt guilty about leaving her alone in such a vulnerable place. "The nighlocks could attack her again. What if we're too late next time?"
When he got to the market, he searched the area were he had met Katie. He searched the debris and trampled goods before he found what he was looking for. A thick sketch book and scattered pencils. One was broken in half, but the other two seemed alright. Jayden's samuraizer went off and he answered it. "Hello?"
"Amigo," Antonio said. "The moogers all gone on our end. How about you?"
Jayden looked around. "We're all good over here. Is anyone seriously injured?"
"Not that we can tell. I mean, some people mot be traumatized for life, but that seems to be the worse of it."
Jayden nodded. "We should get back then. Hanging around will only draw unwanted attention."
"I agree. Where are you?"
"I'm...just head back without me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I want to do one more sweep of the area, just to make sure."
"You want help with that?"
"No, one person will draw less attention. Like I said before, we don't want too many people looking at us too closely."
"Good point. We'll meet you at the house."
"Ok, see you there."
"Adios."
Jayden hung up and stood up straight. He flipped briefly through the sketchbook and was mesmerized by it. The drawings inside were amazing. Wow, he thought. She's really talented. His stomach still felt a little uneasy thinking of Katie. There must be something else I can do to help her. He started walking around, searching for anymore signs of nighlock activity. He suddenly thought of an idea. "It's crazy," he said. "But it might be the only way I can protect her."
